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Obama Volunteers Help Church's 'Yard Give-Away' Ministry

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

From left: Volunteer Pat Henderson listens as Kathy Fredlake with the Obama for America Committee speaks during a meeting for the Harvest Season Ministry, of which Genice Williams is the leader, at Refuge Baptist Church on Tuesday in Sebring. The group of volunteers are collecting items for their Jan. 17 yard give away.

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: December 31, 2008

SEBRING - A little church has taken on a big project to help people in need.

Refuge Baptist Church, with about 30 members, has started a "Yard Give-Away" program, collecting household items, furniture and clothes and setting them out on the church lawn on selected Saturdays, free to anybody who can use them.

The congregation, at 300 N. Pine St., two blocks off the Circle, held two giveaways in November and one in December, and will put on the event again on Saturday, Jan. 17.

Genice Williams, who launched the project and named it Harvest Season Ministry, said she hopes to see the giveaway ministry continue every other Saturday after Jan. 17.

Williams, who moved here nine years ago from Detroit, said the idea is simple: With so many people in dire straits now and not able to afford even thrift store prices, why not collect goods and set them out free to anybody who can use them?

This week, the church's giveaway ministry received a boost as volunteers from the Obama for America campaign offered their help in seeking donations and picking up items.

Kathy Fredlake, an Obama volunteer, said more than 4,000 local Obama for America campaign groups around the country met in mid-December to take on a community project as a continuation of the president-elect's call for change.

"We want to continue the volunteer spirit that brought us into the campaign, and this is such a wonderful project because there are so many people in need," she said.

Obama for America volunteers are putting out flyers and spreading the word about the need for donations to Refuge Baptist's Harvest Season Ministry, and will have volunteers ready to pick up items on Saturday, Jan. 10.

"But," Fredlake added, "we're open to picking things up at any time."

People with items to donate can call Williams at 314-0490, the Rev. Robert Everett, pastor of Refuge Baptist Church, at 471-3491, or Fredlake at 273-2460.

After moving into Sun 'n Lake of Sebring with her fiance, Bruce Willer, Williams said, she noticed many perfectly good items being put out in the trash.

She and Willer now drive the streets of Sun 'n Lake every Monday night and Tuesday morning and collect everything from televisions and books to furniture and lamps, toys and strollers to beds and dishes, for the ministry.

"There is an old saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure, and I don't take that statement lightly anymore," she said.

Williams has also stopped at garage sales and offered to clean up at the end for the donation of any unsold items to the Harvest Season Ministry.

"The one (Bible) verse I've lived by all my life is Mathew 7:7, 'Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened,'" she said.

Williams said her late father, the Rev. Robert G. Williams, a United Methodist Church minister for more than 40 years, always impressed upon her that real joy is found through giving.

"To be in a position to give is a blessing," she said. "And the joy of giving is knowing that you have taken the time to make somebody else happy."

Williams said friends and neighbors, family and fellow church members have spread the word about this unique ministry and she has found that, given the opportunity, many people are happy to search their homes and donate items they no longer use.

Help from the Obama for America volunteers will help the ministry's continual effort to find enough items to meet the tremendous need in the downturned economy, Williams said.

"They are a great boost for this ministry, and I could not have asked for anything better, so I know it was God's doing," she said.

The number of people coming to the yard giveaways has grown and so have the donations, Everett said. While no one can guarantee the ministry's continued success, he said, work and prayers have been making a difference in many people's lives.

"God is leading us in this direction," he said. "So many people are in need. It's really out of my hands, it's in God's hands now. I have to let God lead this."

Williams said volunteers for Harvest Season have been rewarded with the smiles of people receiving the help, and she particularly recalls one young boy.

"Just one of the things that touched my heart was a little boy who came by," she said. "He said, 'My mom can't come because she's working, but can I get some clothes for myself and my sister?"

After he had loaded several plastic bags full of clothes on the handle bars of his bicycle, he reached in his pocket, pulled out a quarter and offered it as a donation. Williams told him everything was free, but he insisted on donating the quarter.

"He told us, 'My mom and my grandmother always tell me to give to the church and God will bless our home,'" Williams recalled. "He gave the quarter, which is all that he had, and to see the smile on his face, that was awesome."

Fredlake said the Obama for America volunteers plan to tackle other projects.

"One of the things we're concerned about is the lack of public transportation in the area and its direct link to poverty," she said. "That's something we're going to try to work on, although we understand that is a huge undertaking.

"Another focus we're thinking about is education, specifically funding for teacher salaries and funding for education."

As the Obama group met with Refuge Baptist Church members on Tuesday to organize the Jan. 17 Harvest Season Ministry giveaway, Fredlake said Obama for America volunteers plan to keep helping this project.

"Once you know about this," she said, "can you really not help?"

Highlands Today reporter Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com.

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